UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie Ended in Bittersweet Fashion
The UFC's return to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil is full of anticipation and high expectation, as the main card features a championship match between the featherweight division's kingpin and one of his most highly skilled challengers to date. Nonetheless, when it ended, it cannot be concealed that the conclusion of the fight has been frustrating for most fans and pundits, including the UFC president himself.
In the main event, Brazilian featherweight champion Jose Aldo defeated the Korean challenger Chan Sung Jung via technical knockout in the fourth round of their scheduled five-round battle.
Aldo controlled majority of the rounds with effective striking on the feet and occasional takedowns. Although it was pretty much apparent that the champ has the challenger's number, there was not much excitement during the fight, as both fighters seemed to be refusing to over commit in striking exchanges.
Things only got interesting in later rounds when Jung started to open up and action started to pick up. Unfortunately, just when things got more thrilling, the challenger injured his shoulder in the fourth round, giving the champ a great opportunity to attack him and finish the fight. Aldo took the hurt challenger in the ground and begun pouring ground strikes en route to a technical knockout win.
"That is brutal that Zombie's shoulder pops out during the fight!" said UFC President Dana White on Twitter.
"Wow that is real unfortunate man. Hell of a fight hate to see it go that way," tweeted fellow featherweight fighter Erik Jon Koch.
With the win, Aldo improved his mixed martial arts record to 23-1. His next challenger may be former title challenger and top-ranked featherweight Chad Mendez or number two featherweight Ricardo Lamas. The latter was supposed to face Jung at the event but was forced out when the original opponent of Aldo was injured. Jung was chosen as replacement to face the champion.
Meanwhile, Jung declined his record to 13-4. A timetable for the Korean fighter's recovery was yet to be determined, but when he recovered, a win or two should definitely propel him back to title contention. A fight against number three featherweight Frankie Edgar would be a great start for the Korean Zombie.